Signature Dish
by RussM
Summary: Ariel doesn't pay attention to warning of impending danger and set of a chain of events which not only endanger her life but push the kingdom to the brink of war with humans. A MID (mermaid in distress) story
1. Gone FIshing

**Gone Fishing**

Edward 'Teddy' Gómez had wanted to be a chief from the moment he made his first cake in kindergarten. That passion had seen him work his way up from doing dishes and waiting tables to pay for his way through cooking college, through menial job to menial job diligently learning his trade all the way up to where he was now, the executive chief of a top Miami hotel. To the outside world he had it made but professionally there was one thing he lacked, a true signature dish. Over the years he had created many great dishes but none he felt were truly unique or worthy to be called his signature dish. There was one dish he had fantasized about since his teens; he'd often be caught day-dreaming amidst piles of dirty plates, thinking and planning the dish. As he grew in skill he devoted many hours to reading and studying, researching old cooking books, he even taught himself to read Latin and Arabic so to better study the more ancient manuscripts. It was there amongst the volumes of the Smithsonian that he had found the clues that he was looking for. Everyone he had told about the dish had laughed, some though he was making a joke others that he was crazy, but he knew otherwise. Still it could harm his reputation so he gave talks about his historical studies and joked about his teenage obsession, he even ordered a cake baked like his dish for his birthday. The ruse work, the jokes stopped and people recognized him as an authority on ancient cookery, albeit an eccentric one, but one people would pay top dollar to have cook for them. He put this wealth to practical use and brought himself a big motor yacht and kitted it out with the best sonar he could find. For special clients he would personally get the fish from the sea himself, and all the while the sonar was recording what was there under the sea. After years of searching he found what he was looking for. Early one morning he sat in his favourite diner having breakfast prior to the biggest fishing trip of his life. He mused about how people had laughed at him when he was growing up. They didn't laugh in his face now but he was sure they laughed at him behind his back. But not today, well today they would but in a week or so he'd be hailed as a genius, the creator of a dish no other mortal would dare to create again. He looks out to sea and pondered his creation, a simple seafood dish, a seafood dish like no other.

"So Teddy, you gonna catch your mermaid today?" He looked up to see Gino, a sous-chef from a restaurant opposite his hotel.

"Yep, today's the day Gino." Teddy motioned for him to join him.

"Yeah, that's what you say every week."

"True but today is different.

"You say that as well."

"Yeah," Teddy Stretched "but today feels different, I got a new lead; last week I received a copy of an old manuscript for Fordham University which is the last piece in the puzzle."

"Man you should be a professor, not a chief."

The two talked over breakfast till it was time for Teddy to leave, tide and time wait for no man and the manuscript had been very specific about the conditions.

Ariel the mermaid was swimming with a pod of dolphins passing through an area known for troubles. There were frequent skirmishes between orcas and dolphins over feeding rights and territory here, and while things had cooled down ever since King Triton had decreed a settlement neither side were happy with the result. The king was happy with this as it meant neither side could claim to be winners, despite this tensions still bubbled under the surface so the presence of a member of the royal household was required to keep a lid on things till tempers cooled. Ariel loved swimming with dolphins, they playful nature matching her own. The pod was made up younger dolphins with a few older ones to keep them in order and to try to teach them something about the area. The older ones knew they would fight again over this area so the more the younger ones knew about it the better. This would have worked had Ariel not been them, her exuberance and playfulness kept getting in the way. Finally the elder dolphins gave up and decided to try to keep Ariel under control and stop her from swimming accidentally over the border. They were close enough that even the younger ones became cautious and slightly subdued. The older ones sensed it first. One gave an alarm call, the pod stopped and turned, forming up into attack formation as two orcas loomed out of the gloom. The orca's had deliberately crossed the border, was this an act of war or were they just here to make a point that the area was still in dispute. The elder dolphin knew they had recently done this so hoped the Orcas' were just returning the favour.

The eldest dolphin swam forward to confront them.

"This isn't your feeding area, go or we will attack."

"Ok, ok, calm down." Ariel swam between the two groups.

The lead orca thrashed her tail in annoyance and looked at Ariel "I'm not here to feed, I'm here to warn."

"Warn? Warn who?"

"Warn you princess Ariel; we've seen a pattern, a pattern in human activity we haven't seen for centuries, the pattern of shame."

The eldest dolphin swam in circles, clicking in annoyance "There are uninitiated young here; you have no right to mention that in their presence."

"Just 'cause it was your fault."

"No it wasn't."

"Yes it was, or are you calling me a liar." The two squared up to each other while the others hung back and looked menacing, which was a lot easier for an orca. While the younger dolphins had had some military training, none have ever faced a real orca in combat. An experience pod could easily handle an orca, but this pod was young, only a few had fought in the last conflict whereas both these orcas were combat veterans. If there was fighting it would be a bloodbath.

"Knock it off!" shouted Ariel "What's this pattern anyway?"

The orca and the dolphin looked at each other.

"Is she serious?" whispered the orca.

"Princess Ariel, you must have heard of, of emm the pattern. I know it's in the briefings you get before patrolling here."

"Oh, emm the briefing, I, I was doodling."

"Princess Ariel!" the eldest dolphin exclaimed.

The other orca turned and emitted a set of sounds.

"What are you doing?" asked the first.

"Getting backup. If this goes wrong it'll make the battle of the three channels look like a social gathering."

"Enough, I command to be told." Ariel folded her arms.

The orca bowed "As you wish your highness. Humans hunt mermaids, normally mermaids are warned by orcas so they can stay away," said the lead orca  
"Or dolphins." Interrupted the elder dolphin "It is rare your highness but some humans do hunt mermaids."

"So?"

"On that day the dolphins and orcas were at war, it was the height of the conflict, neither side was holding out. In that moment the signs of a human hunt was missed and a number of mermaids were caught by humans, never to be seen of again."

"Oh, but humans aren't bad now. I've met humans before and they were fine. That's all old history."

"Not anymore, we've seen the hunt pattern. A single boat true, but it is following the pattern exactly, we were here waiting for it when it arrived, right on time."  
"Oh my!" the elder dolphin swam around Ariel, clearly alarmed "Princess Ariel, you must heed the warning of the orcas and leave immediately. We will escort you from the area."

"And we will obstruct the passage of the boat," the orca nodded at the dolphin who reciprocated, this would please King Triton, it might even help ease tensions.

"No." Ariel folded her arms emphatically, if only cetaceans could face-palm "I am a princess of the sea and can go where I please. Plus I know humans, everything will be fine."

With that Ariel turned tail and swam away towards Orca territory.

"Pass the word old pips, we're off to see King Triton and we need clearance to move through here it'll take too long to go around the area."

The dolphin frowned at the nickname but the orca was right, he turned around and emitted a series of low frequency clicks and whistles. They waited till they head a reply in the distance.

"Go, the message has been passed ahead. Better remind him who is on patrol here."

"You don't have to remind me." The orcas swam off at flank speed.

By the time Ariel had calmed down she was miles away, she sort of knew where she was by the taste of the water but she'd never been here before. There were humans about alright, she could hear the rhythmic thum-thum from propellers, the low frequency rumble of engines; the sounds of a fishing boat hauling in its gears and the high-pitched whine from speedboats closer to shore.

Ariel gasped "A fishing boat, oh my!" perhaps the orca was right!

She listened carefully, dove below the layer and listened again and let out a sigh, the boat was miles away. Still she didn't want to blunder into a set of nets by mistake. Ariel swam in a circle as slowly and as quietly as she could to get a detailed picture of what was going on in the area. There quite a few fishing boats around so decided to play it safe and hide under another boat while it left the area then return home for the obligatory telling off from her father. She didn't want to hide under big ship, they were too noisy; made the water taste odd and the propellers could turn her into sushi if she wasn't careful. There was another boat nearby, a medium sized pleasure cruiser by the sounds of it, these sometime engaged in fishing but she could hear music and children. The boat was underway so there would be no divers and was heading for one of the human ports so probably not fishing. Ariel swam over to the boat, sure enough it was making slow but steady progress towards port, by the sound of it there must be a children's party on board. Under the keel of the boat she noticed something sparkly shiny. Swimming up to it she could see a small cluster of glowing objects attached to the bottom by a small tether. The pattern of pulsing changed as she grew closer, it changed again when she touched it. Ariel was entranced, whatever it was seemed to be interacting with her. Spellbound by the lights she didn't notice the world around her getting darker.

"Who dares disturb the king at this hour?" Roared Triton getting out of bed.

"Your majesty, two orcas, they were cleared to come through dolphin territory next to the disputed zone." Triton frowned, this wasn't good; he threw on his robe and hurried to the throne room. King Triton like formalities and the niceties of being a king, he also knew when it was time to dispense with all the formal BS and get down to business. He nodded at the lead orca, they had air caps over their blow holes allowing them to breathe, another sign of the effort they had expended getting here.

"Your majesty, the pattern, we have seen the pattern."

"Where?"

"The disputed zone."

"Ariel! Did you?"

"We tried, we crossed the line to warn her, she was escorting a pod. They tried, we both offered, the pod would escort her back and orcas would intercept and divert the boat but..."

"But she didn't listen. Sebastian!"

"Yes your highness." Sebastian scuttled over as fast as he could, he'd already been briefed and had already started a search and rescue mission.

"Initiate a search, no expense is to be spared."

"I'm already on it sire. I suggest we go to the situation room."

The situation room was several levels below the throne room, it was the nerve centre of the kingdom handling all of the military and diplomatic traffic going to and from the palace. Triton's military chiefs and their staff were up and running about here and there trying to organize and coordinate. The atmosphere in the room was already tense when Triton entered.

"Grand Admiral Lieberwitz?"

An elderly squid rose from a platform in the centre of the room and jetted over to Triton. "Sire wanderers are airborne over the area now and are tracking several likely targets, they are in contact with orca command to co-ordinate the search. The pod are conducting an expanding circular search and have been given permission to enter orca territory. A couple of marlins should be there now to do a quick pass through the areas not covered by the pod or orcas, we'll have a flight of manta rays there within the hour and three squadrons of hammerheads within two."

The squid led Triton to a large map as he spoke, shrimps with symbols on their backs moved about under the direction of several octopuses, Triton squinted at the map; military symbology wasn't his strong point but he got the picture that everything was in order. Lieberwitz may be old but he knew his stuff.

Ariel looked around, to her left and right she could see nothing but darkness. Directly in front she could see a line of bright blue water a couple of feet wide but already blocked by bars. She cried out in alarm, the gap was closing. Too late she realized it was a trap, two halved of a sphere were closing around her, the edge of had protruding bars preventing her escape before the spheres closed. Ariel went to gap pointed to deep water and screamed for help with all her might, second later she was silenced as the sphere closed up. The light went out leaving her in absolute darkness. There was roaring noise as the water was pumped out of the sphere. Ariel pounded on the side of the sphere and called out for help but knew the noise wouldn't get far. There was a faint hissing noise, a faint unpleasant smell filled Ariel's nostrils. She was already struggling to breath, mermaids took time to adjust to breathing air and this wasn't fresh air. Her head began to spin, she was finally able to breathe but every breath made her feel more unsteady and woozy. Despite her best efforts she couldn't stop herself falling asleep.

A representative of the secretive National Sonar Agency spoke up "Listening stations report getting a snippet of a mermaid distress call, not long enough to get a precise location…"

Shrimps on the map reconfigured themselves to show the new search area Lieberwitz gave some orders to some junior officers then to Triton.

"The wanderers and marlin will be sent directly to that area as will two of the hammerhead squadrons. The location will allow the hammerheads to get there quicker but we can't rule out other areas."

A messenger hurried up to Lieberwitz and saluted "Sir, orca command is requesting permission to attack likely target boats in that area."

The admiral turned to Triton "Sire, what are your orders?"

King Triton took a deep breath, being king wasn't all parties are social events; you made decisions and had to live with the consequences. He'd assigned Ariel the task of escorting the pod and now had to deal with the consequences of that decision, and live with the consequences of his next…

"No," Triton picked up the royal battle standard and planted it into the ground in the centre of the room "mobilise the navy, we are going to war."


	2. Catch of the Day

**Catch of the Day**

"Uhhh, muuuh," Ariel grunted, tugging on the ropes that bound her wrists and elbows tightly behind her back. She was hung upside-down by her tail. Her mouth was filled with a huge wad of cloth held in place by a tight cleave gag knotted begin her head, another strip covered her eyes. She could feel the motion of the boat, the itchy feeling in her skin as it dried in the air. From the motion she could tell a little about the kind of boat she was on, her best guess the same one she hidden under. She'd woken up to find herself in this position, her wrists tightly bound and cinched behind her back, further rope pinned them to the small of her back, more rope pulled her elbows together till they were almost touching. No matter how she twisted her fingers she couldn't reach any knot. She daren't wriggle too much, she had no idea how high she was over the ground, or what was beneath her as no amount of shaking her head could dislodge the blindfold. A mermaid's tail was mostly solid muscle, and even Ariel's had enough power in its strike to seriously injure if not kill a human. In water she would be more than a match for any human, but on land she was at a serious disadvantage. She had heard rumours that her father's navy had mermaids trained in fighting on land, here and now she hoped those rumours were true.

She guessed she was below decks and possibly only a few inches off the ground but didn't want to take the chance. For now she had little option but to hang helpless in the air and wait for her captor to appear.

Ariel took a break from struggling, her wrists were beginning to get sore and all the squirming around was making her feel giddy. She had some hope, she could feel a bit of give in her blindfold, if she could see where she was then she might be able to plan an escape, once in the water she'd be out of reach of the human. She was sure there was only one on board and knew the boat was small enough that she would be able to easily find her way to the deck. All this was totally academic as none of the ropes would budge, there wasn't the tiniest bit of slack in any of them. This was most unfair as in the stories she read, the heroine was always able to find some slack and free herself, unless of course she was content to wait to be rescued. Her thoughts were interrupted by the sound of approaching footsteps, she wasn't that naïve to think this was a hero; there was only one pair of shoes on this boat.

"Huuuh!" Ariel tried to move her body away as a hand ran over her stomach.

"Ahhh your skin is getting dry." Her captor was male, he moved away from her. Picked up an object which made a sloshing sound then returned. There was a faint repetitive squeaking noise, she felt a fine cool mist hit her skin, seconds later she was writhing in pain; it was fresh water! More water was sprayed over her and the burning stopped, mercifully this was seawater. There must have been a small amount of fresh water in the tube. The dryness and itching quickly subsided though Ariel could still feel a dull ache where she'd been sprayed with fresh water. Any hope she had of being released were dashed when she heard her captor leave and close the door. Moments later the engines roared into life and she started to swing about as the boat powered its way through the water.

After much twisting of her head Ariel had finally managed to shake off her blindfold, as far as she could tell she was in a cabin of some sort, there was a bunk in one corner and some storage but most of it was utilitarian, and devoted to fishing. That in of itself didn't alarm Ariel, mermaids often ate fish; they even farmed fish – non sentient fish of course. Most mermaids were omnivores so the simple act of eating fish didn't worry Ariel, what did worry her was that her captor saw her not as a fellow sentient being but as something that could be covered in breadcrumbs and served with tomato ketchup. There were some knives in view but these were too far away, they weren't scattered about like they were about to be used to butcher her but were carefully stowed away, safe, and out of reach. The only other significant object was a clear plastic tube with several fittings for pipes. The tube was hinged on one side like a coffin with a black seal and catches going all the way round. She had a horrible feeling that it would feature large in her immediate future. She was glad she hadn't tried to shake herself free, she was several feet off the deck. She was also in the centre of the room, well away from anything even vaguely useful for escape, it didn't stop her trying.

Ariel began to feel more nervous and panicky as she began to smell land, she began to whimper and struggle again as the boat slowed down. It, and she, was nearing journey's end. She hung still, by letting her muscles recover she might have enough energy for one last escape attempt. But it was not too be, moments later the man re-entered the cabin. He didn't seem too perturbed by her missing blindfold, he simply picked it up and put it in his pocket.

"Meeet eee goooh!" Ariel slowly and as clearly as her gag would allow "emmm uh encess."

"My, my, my, you're a talkative one aren't you? Now I wonder of the reports were true."

He untied the cleave gag and removed the wad of cloth from her mouth.

"Let me go! I'm a princess of the first rank in the royal household!"

"They were right, the books were true!" The man clapped his hands and laughed "Say something, say something else!"

"This is an act of war! King Triton will hunt you doownnph muuugh!" Ariel squealed with indignation as the man shoved the gag back in then stuffed the blindfold in for good measure. He tightly re-tied the cleave-gag to keep everything in.

"And that's enough of that high-pitched squeaky voice of yours."

"Hhduuuhooou!" Ariel was incandescent, nobody spoke to her like that.

"Air is less dense than water so your voice has a higher pitch."

"Nuuurgh!"

"Exactly, time for phase two."

"Phuuuse ooo?"

"Yes," Ariel's eyes darted towards the tube "correct again."

The man went to the tube, undid all the catches then opened it up. The tube was sitting on a set of wheels, they squeaked as he wheeled it over, to Ariel it was like nails down a chalkboard. He quickly lowered her into the tube. Ariel's tail flapped about trying to get a purchase to leaver herself out or tip the tube over but muscles were tired from struggling. The rapid change from vertical to horizontal caused her head to swim. By the time she had regained her balance he was locking the last of the catches closed. Ariel mumphed and wriggled to roll round till she was lying on her back. Lying on her bound arms was very uncomfortable but it did mean she could see what he was doing. Which she regretted, she saw him hook up a clear hose to each of the openings. Ariel struggled desperately as she saw water make its way up the hose near her tail, if it was fresh water the osmotic shock would kill her. Just as a human diver has to decompress when surfacing so a mermaid has to do the same when moving from salt water to fresh water. There was nowhere to hide from the water, she braced herself for the end, it was brackish water, unpleasant as it made her skin itch and feel all puffy but not fatal. The itchiness would pass once she acclimatised, that she couldn't scratch would her nuts. The tube filled relatively slowly allowing Ariel to swap over to breathing water.

"There you can rest now. Don't want you causing a scene now do we." With that he covered the tube with a heavy cloth to conceal it, and Ariel. Ariel squirmed in the tube, trying to rub her itchy skin against the tube. Ariel assumed the water was being pumped from the sea, from the slowly decreasing salinity she guessed they were heading for somewhere up a river. She knew that this part of the human world was dotted with numerous small ports and marinas. There was no way she could communicate acoustically with either human or seal-life, but a mermaid had other ways. Like many creatures who evolved underwater mermaids could detect substances dissolved in water, they could also communicate via chemicals dissolved in the water. Whilst some mermaids looked down on this 'primitive' feature it was still useful, to seduce a lover, as a form of personal identity, by some of the more meat-headed mermaids when sizing up to each other or to indicate a mermaids general emotional state – which in Ariel's case was distress. The mermaid distress pheromone was still in use as mermaids were prey to some sea creatures. It evoked a visceral 'fight-or-flight' response in even the most aloof mermaid. The ability to control the release of pheromones was partially under conscious control. Ariel contracted her bladder and released a steady stream of alarm pheromone. Despite knowing what was about to happen couldn't help but panic as concentrated alarm pheromone washed over her, and hopefully out to sea, leaving a trail for others to follow.

Constant exposure to her alarm pheromone coupled to her claustrophobic confinement kept Ariel on the brittle edge of blind panic. She managed to keep herself sane by focussing on the taste of the water, the boat was approaching the port she could sense the salinity of the water diminish as it took on an unpleasant earthy taste. She could feel the vibrations from the boat start to change, there was some rocking motion then the engine died. Ariel felt her insides tremble as she awaited her fate, but nobody came. Teddy waived to a fellow boat owner as he secured his boat. Everything needed to appear as normal so Teddy had caught some fish and worked on his tan. They exchanged pleasantries as Teddy unloaded his catch, Teddy mentioned that he was coming back this evening to do some work on the boat. The social exchange over both went their separate ways. Teddy was on a tight timescale, he had to prepare the fish he'd caught; after all he had a guest to feed.

Ariel lay helpless in the dark, she managed to wriggle onto her front to ease the pressure on her arms. In a dark warm cocoon Ariel found herself drifting off to sleep. Her hands and arms were becoming numb, her body felt numb while the boredom was making her mind become numb. Ariel was tired out from struggling, she was too tired to release any alarm pheromone; sleep was the better option that looking at darkness.

"Muugh! Hmmpe!" Ariel awoke with a start, panicking to find herself bound and confined in a tube. She rested her head on the tube and wept, was this how he intended to keep her for the rest of her life? She was torn, on one level she wanted him to return, on the other hand she was scared of what would happen when he did

"Nuuug!" Ariel exclaimed as the cover was removed from the tube, she squinted in the brightness.

"Ahhh still awake. Good all is in order." The man ran his hands slowly over the tube over Ariel.

"Eeze un-eyyy eee," Ariel wriggled her arms, hoping he'd get the message and untie her "eyell ee ood."

He smiled at the sight of her struggling, despite the hours of being left alone she was still as securely bound and gagged as when he'd left her, all that time in the boy scouts learning knots had paid off. Ariel watched helplessly as he stopped the water flowing into the tube and slowed down the rate it flowed out. He removed the hose then replaced it with a different hose which began to run water into the tube.

"Now, we have to be very careful here."

Ariel immediately recognised the stinging sensation of fresh water. She whimpered into her gag and tried to shuffle away. It was hard to decide if he was trying to acclimatise her to fresh water or torture her. Ariel know if he did this slowly enough she'd acclimatise but as she couldn't control the rate of change it could still be incredibly painful. Death by desalination was still a punishment on the statue books in her father's kingdom, if she survived she was determined to change that. Ariel flicked her tail to mix the water together to increase the chance of successful acclimatisation, she'd heard condemned prisoners did that in a bid to save off the end.

Teddy paid careful attention to Ariel, the old manuscripts had been very precise about the rate at which fresh water should be introduced to avoid damaging the meat and ruining the flavour. As soon as he saw her begin to convulse he added sea water till she stabilised. Teddy stopped and took a drink of water as he let the fresh water flush through the tube, they'd been going for nearly an hour and finally they were done. Ariel lay limp in the tube, exhausted and aching she had no more strength left. She groaned quietly as she heard the water stop running, finally it was over, the only good thing was the earthy taste of raw fresh water had gone as the processing involved in making tap water rid it of the taste of the land, a taste most mermaids found nauseating. Again he covered the tube with a tarpaulin but rather than being left alone she felt the tube being moved. She felt it lift, sway alarmingly for a few seconds before descending onto solid ground. She frowned as the tube rocked from side to side unable to figure out what was happening. She could just about make out some noise from outside, further things were being fitted over the tube, some more rocking about then silence.

Teddy jumped down from the pick-up truck he'd hired for this trip. Happy that the load was secured and well hidden, there was some boating odds and ends protruding from under the tarp to allow people to fill in the gaps of what was under cover. He climbed into the drivers seat and set off for home. Ariel noticed the vibration at first, it wasn't until the vehicle was off the marina and onto the roads did she get the impression she was moving. Her heart sank at the realisation that was being moved inland, her pheromone trail would be a dead-end. Teddy drove carefully towards home, it was late evening and the frantic rush-hour traffic had all but vanished but the nighttime assortment of drunks and college kids being stupid weren't on the road yet. Because of this it was shift change for the local police so provided he didn't do anything stupid to attract attention he'd be fine. Teddy did have one encounter with the police. Just outside his house, a local unit was investigating a report of a dangerous dog on the loose and spied Teddy trying to reverse the truck up his driveway so they helped guide him in. Once the garage door was closed Teddy went outside to talk to the officers by way of being polite and to help, he'd seen a dog running about that morning. While Teddy was being helpful Ariel sweated it out in the tube, it was becoming stuffy and she was feeling thirsty, she'd lost a lot of salt and was feeling its effects.

As soon as Teddy returned he set to work, he removed the cover from the tube then used a hoist to take it off the truck and lower it to the ground. He ran a hose from a drain to lowest port on the tube, opened the top port and let gravity do the rest. Water began to drain from the tube, as soon as there was a big enough space Ariel put her head above water to acclimatise to breathing air, a task which would be a lot easier if she wasn't so heavily gagged. As soon as the tube was empty he undid the catches and opened it up.

"Pheeeeze," Ariel implored.

"Yes, yes, all in good time. Let's get you out of there."

He used the hoist to lift Ariel out then pushed it through a door to the back part of his garage. He laid her face down on a narrow metal table. Ariel felt something cold and tight around the base of her tail. There was a rattling sound when she tried to move it.

"Don't want you running away now do we?"

The man produced a knife from under the table, Ariel flinched as he brought it near her, but the only thing cut were the ropes binding her arms. Freed from their ropes her arms flopped to her side. She let out a soft moan as blood returned to her arms causing them to tingle painfully. Ariel gave a muffled grunt as the man began to massage her shoulders and arms.

"Don't you worry, I won't put you back in that tube. I have a better place."

 _Couldn't be much worse_ she thought darkly.

"And we'll get rid of that gag soon."

As he spoke he fiddled around with her left wrist, Ariel looked round to see him snugly applying heavy leather cuffs to her wrists, each locked in place with a substantial padlock.

"Now." The man gave her a stern look, reluctantly Ariel put her hands behind back. He locked them together with another padlock. From that ran another length of chain at the end of which was leather collar which he locked round her neck.

"Try that."

Ariel wriggled her wrists and arms. While they had a lot more movement than before the effect of connecting her wrists to the collar was to pull them up so she couldn't slip them over her tail.

"Time to sit you up." He manoeuvred Ariel so she was able to sit up. She'd never felt so vulnerable as she did now.

"I'm going to ungag you, one sound and you will not get any food or water tonight, understand?'

Ariel nodded.

"Good." The man untied the cleave gag and removed the packing.

"I assume you want a drink?" Ariel nodded eagerly "Seawater?" Ariel nodded again.

He brought a large soda cup with a straw poking out if the top. He patiently let Ariel drink as many refills as she wanted. Ariel soon felt better, mermaids need a high-salt diet if they spend any length of time in fresh water.

"Done for now?" Ariel nodded.

"Now this is fresh from today." He brought over a bowl full of sliced fish and proceeded to feed her using a pair of chopsticks. He didn't rush but let her eat her fill. Ariel decided to eat all the fish on offer not knowing when she'd eat again. To end with he gave her some more saltwater to drink.

"Time to show you your new home."

Teddy went to the end of the table, he pressed down with his foot and the table began to move. He pushed the table out of the room, through another door into his gym. It contained a few weights, and some bits of gym equipment but the centrepiece was a small endless pool in the corner of the room. He freed Ariel's tail, picked her up and lowered her in.

"Now it is late and I need to get to bed, but don't think for a moment I won't hear any noise you make."

He brought out a baby monitor, he demonstrated to Ariel how it worked then left the transmitter on the metal table. "So any noise out of you and you'll be regagged understand?" Ariel nodded "And just to make sure you don't go anywhere."

Resting against the wall was a metal grille. He pressed a button on the side of the pool and grille swung down trapping Ariel in the pool. Just to make sure he secured the free ends of the grille down with some bolts. Ariel could just about fit her head through the gaps in the grille. She decided that wasn't a good idea as with her hands bound she wouldn't be able to free herself if she got stuck. The water level wasn't too high. She could comfortably sit with her head above water, there was even a seat built into the bottom of the pool. Suddenly her world went dark as the man rolled a tarpaulin over the top of the pool and secured it down. Only small slivers of light crept in round the edges. She heard him walk away and a door open.

"Good night my mermaid, I will see you tomorrow morning."

The lights went out and the door closed a locked leaving Ariel in virtual darkness with only the glow from the baby monitor for light.


	3. General Quarters

**General Quarters**

On hearing the king's order all hell broke loose in the situation room, alarms began to sound throughout the palace with guards running this way and that to secure the building. Countless guests and hangers-on were thrown out onto the streets at trident point. Those who resisted were arrested and carted off to the local security office for immediate interrogation. Lieberwitz let people run around for a bit, there was no immediate danger of anything happening but it did good for people to get the initial panic out of their systems, plus it provided a show for King Triton. The admiral quickly brought things to order, safes were opened and they began to work through the warplan for conflict against humans.

Sebastian scuttled up to Triton "Your highness; may I suggest a more discrete military strategy."

"Sebastian, this is not time for half measures!"

Lieberwitz stepped in "Sire it will take several days to mobilise the navy and have them in position. We can have special-forces there much quicker, we have several teams getting ready to depart now to conduct reconnaissance. We can send some heavy units with them as well as some of the faster regular navy units to provide support for the extraction. While this is going on we can continue our preparations for a wider operation if required."

A messenger cuttlefish darted up to the admiral and handed him a message "Sire, the hammerheads have detected a mermaid's alarm pheromone heading from the search area towards land. They are following the trail to discover the source. With your permission we will send the rest of the search teams there in support them."

Triton nodded, it felt like they were making progress "Very well, proceed with your plan admiral. I want regular progress reports." The admiral saluted as Triton left the room now accompanied by numerous bodyguards. Triton returned to his bedchamber, he didn't expect to sleep but he knew he had to try, tomorrow was going to be a busy day.

Ariel had a fitful night's sleep. If sleeping bound wasn't bad enough she found she couldn't sleep underwater as whatever chemicals had been put in the pool water to keep it clean were too irritating to sleep through. If she slept sitting up with the head out of water she slowly slid under as her body relaxed. She finally found a way of wedging her tail in place to keep her upright and was able to get a few hours' sleep. Ariel awoke with a start as the tarpaulin was removed.

"Breakfast time my little mermaid."

It was humiliating to be fed morsels of food like a baby but the man made no attempt to free her. The fish was good, he even fetched her more when she indicated she was still hungry. The same was true for the water; as much seawater as she cold drink.

"Now, I have to go to work. I can't be here to give you anything to drink so I have a come up with a solution." He held up a roll of clear tubing, one end was attached to a piece of curved plastic with several straps hanging off it, and a roll of black tape. "Now head out and hold still."

"Please sir, you don't have to do this."

"Ahh the voice, so alien, but so human as well. Now do as you are told."

Ariel sighed, she could sense his rising impatient and anger. She was in no position to argue and poked her head through the bars and opened her mouth.

"Good, good girl."

He fitted the curved plastic in her mouth. It was rigid but soft, fitting over her teeth like a gum-shield. Inside there was a finger-like protuberance. Straps went around her head, under her chin and either side of her nose where they joined at the bridge and went over her head to join the others. All these her secured tightly in place. Finally he taped round the edges to give it a watertight seal.

"Nuuug! Mhhh!" Ariel shook her head, hating it already.

"It also does a good job of keeping you quiet. Now the tube is connected to a bucket on the floor which contains seawater." The man bent down and secured the tube in the bucket "I've mixed in some energy drinks I don't want you to laze about, need to keep you in top condition. Now try sucking on it to make sure it works."

Ariel shook her head and mewed angrily at him.

"Suit yourself but I'll be gone for over half the day and that's a long time to go without a drink."

Ariel gave a frustrated growl and sucked on the protuberance in her mouth. He watched as the liquid moved up the tube and into her mouth. Ariel went crosseyed, it was the oddest tasting seawater she'd ever encountered. Then the sugar and caffeine hit her, she trembled, mewing through her gag. She had to move, do something.

"So you stay in condition," he flipped a switch and the endless pool came to life. Instinctively Ariel started to swim. He adjusted the flow rate to what he thought was reasonable then moved large wooden board to partially conceal her.

"So you're not bored while I'm away." The pool had underwater speakers hooked to an mp3 player. He set the player to loop and plugged it in.

"See you in about 14 hours."

Ariel swam, she couldn't stop herself. Mermaids rarely encounter caffeine or refined sugar so it was playing havoc with her body and the only way she could deal with it was to swim. She wasn't all that keen on the music, it just sounded too odd so she kept her head out of water as much as possible. Eventually the effects of the sugar and caffeine began to wear off allowing her to think clearly. She adopted a more efficient swimming style and rolled onto her back for a change of scenery while she had a go at freeing her wrists. She grunted into her gag tugging and twisting her wrists till they were sore. Ariel bit down on the protuberance and growled as she gave one last tug then stopped. Ariel shook her head, she couldn't decide what was worse; being bound all the time or this gag. She hated how it stuck into her mouth and filled it. And that was another problem, she was getting thirsty, she found if she drank little but often the effect wasn't so bad. Ariel decided to rest, she stopped swimming and drifted back, sitting in the corner, pushed against the back by the flow of water. She rested her head back and closed her eyes.

Teddy returned to find Ariel with her eyes closed, for a second he feared she was dead, her eyes flickered open as he shifted the board and he calmed down. Ariel groaned into her gag, she made pleading noises hoping he'd take the hint and remove her gag. He turned off the endless pool then unhooked the hose from her gag but to her dismay he screwed a stopper over the hole. Ariel watched as he emptied the bucket down a drain.

Teddy smiled at Ariel "Do not worry, I haven't forgotten your dinner. I just need to prepare it…" he stopped as his phone rang.

"Hello, Teddy here."

Ariel listened intently, finally her captor had a name.

"What, when? Oh no I hadn't forgot, just was busy I was changing the water in my pool and lost track of time, five minutes you say, well I'll get the coffee on."

The man said something in a language she didn't understand, but he was clearly not happy.

"Now, now you need to be kept quiet for a while, I'm sorry princess but your dinner will have to wait."

Teddy grabbed a few things from a box on the floor and rushed over to the pool and rolled Ariel onto her front. She gave a muffled squeal of pain as he taped her elbows together till they were almost touching. Suddenly her head was forced underwater as he connected her cuffs to the bars using some nylon rope. He taped her hands up to prevent her from removing it. Ariel felt something wrapped tightly round the base of her tail, it felt like the cuffs round her wrist. The end of her tail was pulled up and secured to the bars like her wrists. Her word went dark as the tarpaulin was rolled over and secured in place. Teddy moved the board back in place, turned out the lights then left the room, locking the door behind him. He'd forgotten some friends were coming round, it was too early to reveal his secret, he couldn't risk her making any sound and being found. Ariel struggled desperately to free herself, her lungs were burning. Ariel didn't like breathing raw freshwater as it tasted funny but worse was the endless pool, it had chemicals added to keep it clean and these irritated Ariel so she had adapted to breathing air and until she adjusted to breathing water again, she was drowning.


	4. Callsign, Beachmaster

**Callsign Beachmaster**

It didn't take long for Ariel to adapt to breathing water again, just over a minute, but it was terrifying. As a consequence the pool was now full of alarm pheromone which made her even more panicky. Unlike when she was in the tube and the water was refreshed, here it just recirculated. Ariel struggled with all her might to free herself from this uncomfortable position, her fin flapped uselessly in the air as she tried to lift her face out of the water. She eventually grew tired and just hung there waiting for him to return. By the time he returned she was half asleep from exhaustion. She let herself sink down as she was freed, Teddy had to reach through the bars and pull her up so he could ungag and feed her. A meal of fresh fish, with some sushi thrown in for variety and sea water soon revived her. Ariel decided it was time to speak up.

"Please, please sir can I have some new water in here?"

"Why?"

Ariel's experience with humans enabled her to communicate with them in their terms.

"Well firstly mermaids have to go to the bathroom so I've been forced to swim in my own, you know. Plus whatever was is in this water tastes horrible, I can smell it on my skin."

He thought for a moment, taint; the water could taint her flavour and ruin everything! "No, no, no, that won't do at all. No taint, you must be perfect."

He disappeared from sight, she could hear him fiddling around at the base of the pool. He reappeared into view trailing a hose behind him which he put down a drain. He returned to the pool and bent down, Ariel heard a click, after a few moments she felt the level of the water start to drop. She flopped around on the bottom of the pool, struggling to sit up. Teddy grabbed his garden hose then reached inside the pool and stuffed a rag into her mouth.

"I am going to spray you clean, this will be cold."

Ariel game a muffled squeal as the spray hit her.

"Roll around so I can clean the water off you."

Ariel did as she was told, rolling onto her front and back. Once she got used to the temperature her skin started to feel better.

"Better?"

"Muuh-uh." Ariel nodded. Teddy sprayed around the pool a final time. He switched off the pump and started to fill the pool up again.

"Now, bed time…"

That night Ariel had no trouble sleeping, she curled up on the bottom of the pool and fell into a deep slept. The morning started the same, after breakfast he started to set her drink up for the day.

"Please sir, seawater, just seawater, whatever else was in that water yesterday made me feel unwell."

"Really?"

Ariel gave him her best 'please' expression she could "yes sir, I'm sorry, thank you for making sure I had energy but mermaids aren't used to human drinks, we just drink seawater."

"Very well, open wide."

Ariel reluctantly opened her mouth so he could gag her. Unlike last-time he didn't tape the gag in place.

"We need to get you ready, this evening is your big reveal."

Ariel gave a quizzical mumph as he proceeded to drain the pool. She wriggled around trying to sit up to see what was going on, she could hear him moving things about. He reappeared, he unlocked the grille and secured it out of the way. Next a metal arm with some strops hanging from it appeared.

"This is an engine hoist so it will have no problem lifting you."

He bent down, fitted the strops to her then lifted her out. Happy that she was secure he wheeled her towards a metal table. The table had a slight tilt in it and a hole at the lower end though Ariel was more focused on the chains at the top and bottom ends of the table. Sure enough as soon as she'd been put on the table the chain was locked to the leather cuff at the base of her tail. He rolled her on her back, freed her wrists the secured them together above her head. That done he moved the engine hoist out of the way. It took some effort from Teddy and squeaks of protest from Ariel before he could fit all of her hair into a tight fitting shower cap. She gave sigh as her removed the collar from her next and laid it on the floor, she growled and protested as he removed her top and put that on the floor. Teddy bent down and picked up a bottle and began to pour the contents over her. Ariel sniffed the air, there was a pleasant smell.

"Only the finest olive oil infused with thyme, basil, parsley with a hint of mint."

Teddy spoke to himself as he massaged the oil into her flesh. The surplus oil ran down the table, through the hole and into a bottle for reuse. The table had been designed for autopsies and had Ariel known what an autopsy was, she'd have freaked out. Finally came the moment she'd been dreading, he rolled her onto her back and started to apply more oil. She was relieved that he paid no more attention to her intimate areas than any other. He repeated the process a couple of times, reusing the recovered oil till he was satisfied after which he sprinkled some herbs over her body some of which got up her nose and made her sneeze.

Teddy freed Ariel's wrists and had her sit up on the table with her arms by her side. He then proceeded to tightly wrap her torso in many layers of plastic wrap. That done he carried on down her tail till only her head and tail fin were free. To finish he used vet-wrap to ensure her arms were pinned tightly to her sides. Ariel was then laid facedown on the table, her collar was reapplied and secured to the table. A few turns of vet-wrap at regular intervals ensured she couldn't roll off.

"There, just hook up your drink," Teddy connected a tube to her gag then to a bucket on the floor "just seawater like you asked."

Ariel's world went dark as he put a tarpaulin over her. It went all the way down to the floor blocking all the light.

"You just lie there and marinade and when I get back you'll be ready for your big reveal."

Ariel didn't bother struggling, she was stuck fast and she knew it. She tried to rest as much as possible, hoping for a chance to escape. As soon as he had freed her from the table and removed her wrapping she was secured in a body hugging cage with cross-hatch bars. Once inside he removed her collar and cuffs, they no longer served a purpose as Ariel could just about breathe let alone struggle. As soon as her removed her gag he shoved a large lemon in her mouth, it was in a mesh bag and was held in place with twine tied behind back of her head. He sprayed her down with water then wrapped her up in tarpauling again.

"You know for years I've wonders if a mermaid is red meat like a mammal or white like a fish. Yes, it will be interesting." Teddy whispered to himself while he carried her out to a waiting van. Finally Ariel understood what he intends to do to her, she couldn't believe a human would stoop so low.

Teddy had the radio on loudly in the back of the van, partly to disguise any noise Ariel might make and because her was happy. Finally his decades old dream would come true. There was a brief new update ending with a snippet of information about the unusual movement and sightings of marine animals in the area. Soon he got to his destination, the beach-front hotel where he worked. He unloaded Ariel and set to work preparing his presentation in a pavilion specially constructed for this event. Ariel couldn't really see what was happening, she was concealed behind a circular curtain Teddy had borrowed from a local magician. She could hear movement and other noise then the rising hubbub of a crowd, all attempts to alert people to her predicament were drowned out by music. Teddy busied himself, he set a couple of fire extinguishers at the sides of the stage then lit a large bed of coals. Once he was satisfied that all was well he began to make his final preparations.

With a final check of the coal temperature he turned to face the audience, he smiled and waved as they applauded, he adjusted his microphone and started to speak "Ready everybody?"

"Ready?" Triton walked up the Admiral, Leiberwitz nodded and turned to the communications officer "Send the signal."

"Beachmaster, beachmaster, do not answer, do not answer, Alpha, Tango, Romeo, Hotel, authentication Whiskey, 9, Juliet. I say again beachmaster, beachmaster, do not answer, do not answer..."

"Their going in now your highness." There was an air of unease in his voice.

"Doubts? It is a little late for that Admiral."

Leiberwitz shuffled but said nothing.

"Admiral." Triton spoke in a quiet, but firm voice.

"They're mammals..."

Like many in Triton's kingdom Leiberwitz shared an innate distrust of sea mammals. Dolphins, orcas and the rest while they looked like sea creatures under the skin they were air breathers, land dwellers, their biology showed their true nature... but he had no choice.

"Let them prove themselves, besides only mammals can do the job."

"Yes sire."

An intelligence office walked up to the Admiral "Sir, wanderers report the heavies are in moving in..."

"See Admiral," Triton boomed "nothing to worry about."

"Behold, a dish known only to the ancients, until now." Teddy pulled a cord and the curtain dropped, revealing Ariel to the crowd. Ariel struggled for all she was worth. "Chargrilled mermaid!"

"Huuuuuuph!"

The crowd collectively blinked, unsure what to think of the sight.

"I know what you are thinking, Teddy's lost it, or it's a joke but rest assured, this is no joke. This is a real mermaid, I caught her a couple of days ago..."

Teddy described how he caught her, all the while Ariel struggled, she had to make them realise she was alive.

"So without further ado," Teddy pressed a leaver, Ariel squealed in terror as the cage began to pivot at the base, lowering her face first towards the hot coals. When the cage was parallel with the coals it began to slowly turn her.

"The ancient scrolls were very precise about how to prepare a mermaid, first they need to be kept in fresh water to make the meat less salty, then a long marinade in olive oil…"

Teddy was too preoccupied with this talk and preparations to notice that the crowd was becoming uneasy. Ariel remembered what Teddy had said about a mermaid's voice. She would often amuse her friends by imitating her father, when he was out of earshot of course. She screamed out for help in the deepest voice she could manage. She screamed in fear, then in pain as the metal heated up and began to sear her skin.

"That's a real person in there!"

There was a near riot when people realised the person in the cage was real, and in real pain

"Someone call security!"

"Dial 911!"

In a break with traditional nobody fainted. Someone did manage to discharge one of the fire extinguishers, white powder covered everything. It smothered most of the coals but didn't stop their heat. Ariel's sweat dropped off and hissed as it evaporated on the coals. Mermaids didn't handle heat very well, Ariel was on the verge of passing out from the heat and dehydration. She knew she was dying but mercifully she knew would be unconscious before the end came. Just a people began to mount the stage the lights went out, there was a crashing noise. People fled as hot coals were scattered everywhere, these caused small localised fires which set off the hotel fire alarms to add to the mayhem. Outside the sirens of the first emergency vehicles could be heard getting closer.

By the time the power was back on and order restored it was all over. Police and fire crews found holes smashed into the walls, from the damage it looked like a truck had been driven through the wall several times in each direction. Most of the stage had collapse, the mountings and supports looked like they had simply snapped. The cage which held Ariel was gone, they eventually found Teddy, crushed into the floor of the stage. There was seaweed in places and the place smelt of seawater. There were several depressions in the ground leading to and from the pavilions. The depressions reveal a trail of damage, fences broken, lampposts bent and cars partially crushed. The trail ended at the harbour, where they found the cage amongst the debris of Teddy's broken boat but as to the occupant of the cage no trace could be found. The police were told to leave things alone till a specialist FBI team arrived to assess the situation.

Had there been any marine biologists out on the water that night they would have seen an impressive sight. First came the marlins to scout out the way ahead, then manta rays followed by scores of hammerheads, Ariel herself was surrounded by 4 orcas and several pods of dolphins, underneath were colossal squids with flying fish providing top-cover. If any passing sea creature didn't get the message that this group weren't stopping for nobody there were tens of mermaids, members of Triton's personal bodyguard with units of the regular navy following behind.

"Rescue party are below the layer!"

There was an air of rejoicing in the situation room, not only had Ariel been rescued but the military had conducted their first successful operation on land for generations. Triton was pleased to hear that the human authorities had responded, he was more pleased that they hadn't actually rescued Ariel as the diplomatic fall-out would have been immense. Humans were unstable and violent at the best of times and he had no idea how they would react to finding there was another sentient species living on the same planet as them. Other than it would be bad. Still that trouble was for another day, Triton went out ready to greet his daughter. Triton whisked Ariel into his arms the moment he saw her. There would be a time for discipline, but this wasn't it. The endless debriefings military intelligence would want to hold with Ariel might be punishment enough.

"Father, how?"

"The orcas and the dolphins first raised the alarm."

"But how, I was on land."

"Why the elite of my armed forces, only the best for my daughter."

"Who father?"

"Navy seals."

A/N It is a common misconception that a 400 pound gorilla can go wherever it likes, it can't, a 5000 pound elephant seal on the other hand...


End file.
